Maybe some missed goals have led to revenue shortfalls or you want to find a way to stretch your budget to its maximum extent. In these business-defining moments, the assistance of a marketing partner can be the solution that puts you back in the black. But once you decide on working with marketing agencies to boost your efforts, how do you know they'll come through?
Your desire to see results combined with the sheer quantity of agencies and confusing offerings can have you wanting to just pick as fast as possible. But finding the right marketing partner is a bit like matchmaking—you shouldn't settle. It is possible to hire a marketing agency dedicated to your success.
In this article, we'll explore how to choose the right marketing agency for your business. We'll guide you through what to start searching for, how to narrow down your options, and what questions you should ask as you hone in on an agency. After all, working with marketing agencies should ultimately be for your benefit, not just theirs.
Why Hire a Marketing Agency?
If your business hasn't fully committed to the idea of working with marketing agencies, it might help to consider what the benefits would be compared to in-house marketing efforts. Marketing agencies bring vast knowledge and experience that can maximize your marketing budget to develop leads and sales.
Leverage Knowledge and Experience
If your company is large enough to have a marketing department or at the very least a marketing officer, odds are that team has deep knowledge about your business. In-house marketing might intuitively understand who your target customers are and how to reach. However, this could be a double-edged sword.
Your business might have multiple customer segments unknown to you or your in-house team. If you've seen leads and sales plateau, it might indicate that it's time to consider a wider audience. If you hire a marketing agency that understands your business, their team can leverage their knowledge and experience to try new tactics or target new demographics.
Enjoy a More Efficient Marketing Budget
The latest data show that almost 40% of small to medium sized businesses are spending less than $10,000 per year on marketing efforts. Meanwhile, the majority spend less than $100,000 each year. It's neither feasible, nor desirable, for these businesses to spend as much as larger companies do on marketing.
But we know that small businesses do have to compete against national brands with deeper pockets. Working with marketing agencies allows SMBs to level the playing field. When you hire a marketing agency, they should develop strategies to maximize each dollar you dedicate to marketing.
Drive Leads and Sales
At the end of the day, the name of the game is leads and sales. If you're like nearly 60% of SMBs, sales is your number one marketing objective, followed by increased leads. If either begin to stagnate, your business can hardly afford to continue on the current path. The right marketing partner will work to gain a full understanding of your goals and work to drive real results in those areas.
Your Guide To Hire A Marketing Agency
Once you know you want to work with a marketing agency, how do you find the right one? Explore our guide below to discover how you can make the best decision for your business.
Assess Your Marketing and Business Needs
Before you start reaching out to agencies, assess what your needs and goals are first. For some businesses, the needs are limited—maybe just one tool or demographic. For example, you might feel like you need assistance using a new platform like TikTok or developing strategies to hit a newly forming customer segment.
But you may find that you need a more comprehensive solution to your marketing challenges. Understanding that will make it easier to weed out marketing agencies that specialize in one tactic or one demographic. If you understand that your needs are holistic, you can start searching for marketing agencies that can actually address those needs.
If you hire a marketing agency for full-service efforts, they should bring an approach that considers your entire customer funnel. Even if you might think you only need assistance in one targeted area, you may still want to go with a full-service agency because they can also anticipate future issues and plan accordingly.
CMG Expert Tip: If an agency holds themselves out as full-service but seems to push one solution, or doesn't seem to want to learn about your actual goals, it may be a red flag that they're not full service.
Begin Interviewing and Securing Pitches
Once you've established which type of agencies you're interested in working with, consider reaching out to a shortlist. Ideally, they should be invested in getting back to you and engaging in a conversation with your company. As you start talking with these agencies ask some of these questions:
Do they offer custom solutions? Boxing your business into a pre-priced menu doesn't reflect your unique business needs. Custom solutions usually indicate a partner interested in understanding your goals and building strategies tailored to them.
What role does data play in their process? When you hire a marketing agency, you bring their practices into your business. You should know what metrics they use to make decisions and how often they'll report them back to you. Key performance indicators like return on investment (ROI), cost-per-lead, and customer lifetime value provide critical insights beyond the current campaign. Most importantly, are they bringing you up to speed on what this data means?
How is their communication? Assessing their communication style and transparency starts from the first outreach and never stops. If they take the time to learn and understand your needs, goals, business, industry, and customers, they should be able to provide you with clear pricing. They should also be able to communicate what timelines to expect and what deliverables to be on the lookout for.
What tools do they bring to table? 41% of small businesses believe that AI technology is too expensive or will take too long to implement. Working with marketing agencies should help you overcome these concerns around not just AI but other critical marketing tools as well.
Do past customers speak highly of them? Before you hire a marketing agency, you should have some method of evaluating their past work. Whether that's through a testimonial or a conversation with another client, make sure you're able to see some proof of performance.
The marketing agencies that provide the strongest answers to these questions are worth moving to the next phase of the process. Draw up your needs, goals, and budget and request pitches from these agencies to further assess their suitability.
Evaluate and Hire a Marketing Agency
After speaking with past clients and evaluating the agencies' pitch, it's time to select the agency you feel is right for your business. As you make that final determination, consider the full value of the agency's pitch. It might be tempting to pick the lowest cost offer, but that isn't always the best choice. Consider what each option is bringing to your business.
The cheapest option doesn't make it the most efficient or effective. Like any purchasing decision, you want to get the most "bang for your buck." When you go to hire a marketing agency, value is measured in terms of building long-term value. Is the agency only concerned with short-term goals or the bigger picture?
For example, consider whether they've created strategies to develop a community on your social media channels rather than more short-term engagement on a few posts. Or whether they want to optimize your entire site rather than boost a single page. Some marketers just want to hit predetermined goals and move onto the next customer, that's not the right agency for your business.
Why Hire A Marketing Agency When You Can Choose CMG?
If your business is looking to reach and exceed goals beyond a single quarter, then you need a partner that can commit to the long haul. Very few marketing agencies can offer the kind of commitment and service of CMG. Our teams are woven into the fabric of your market, meaning they understand your local customer segments. We also combine decades of experience managing traditional marketing channels like television and radio with an intuitive understanding of cutting-edge channels. The result is a full-service marketing agency ready to grow your business in step and in constant communication with you.
Looking to hire a marketing agency you can depend on? Contact CMG Local Solutions today to become a customer.
